AMERICANWAY

COURTESY NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA (2) when you have all these other things?' and I say, 'Because I love it, and radio has been good to me.' I've been good to radio in return." But, of course, he's still on television — and always on tele- vision. As it should be, perhaps: A s the host of TR L from 1998 until 2002, he interacted with h i s aud ienc e v i a pr i mor d i a l technology that would more or less become k now n as "tex ts" and "t weets." Yes, he counted down videos and dated starlets (including Tara Reid, whom he almost married). But Daly also turned an audience into a com- munity; he was social media be- fore there was such a thing. That 's his g ig at the Today show, too, showing Matt Lauer and Savan- nah Guthrie how to be hip without coming off as a square himself. He knows he's not fooling anyone into thinking he's a news- man, but what does a newsman in 2014 look like, anyway? Says Daly, the kids who grew up watching him on TR L are grow n-ups now; parents with kids, they probably turn on Today while changing diapers or getting ready for work. "A lot of women watch that show who consider me some sort of a generational un- elected o cial," he says. "I don't come from a news background, but I feel like there's a generation who has a sort of built-in trust in me because of their time growing up watch- ing me on MTV. And I love it. "I moved my family across the country for it. I'm hoping to be there for as long as they'll have me. I have a lot to learn. I actually get to fi ll in for Matt Lauer when he's gone, which is like the craziest thing ever and exciting. I put a teleprompter in my basement recently to practice." Because, in the end, there are only so many times you can revolutionize the act of counting. would be a good alternate. I thought, 'This will be better than trying to get a real job.'" But Carson Daly loves the work, loves to work. At the radio station, he could coast. He could talk into an open mic, introduce a song, talk to a caller, ri on the morning headlines, then do something else — text, tweet — or nothing at all. Instead, on a warm morning in early June, before heading to those Voice interviews, he's in the AMP studios cutting audio, stack ing ads, ta k ing ca lls, loading bits — serving as producer, board operator and host. He has a producer, CBS Radio vet Angie Fitzsimmons, and an engineer, but on this morning, at least, they're more like sidekicks. At one point, Daly and Producer Angie, as she's k now n, discuss her disdain for veg- etables: her inability to put something green in her mouth without gagging. A man claiming to be a hy pno- therapist dia ls in and tries to work his magic on Angie. Some- one of fers her a store-boug ht salad to see if it worked. Angie can't get down more than a bite without looking like she wants to throw up. Those segments, along with the news headlines and the gos- sip items offered up by call-in guest Perez Hilton, are few and fa r bet ween. The A MP mor n- ing show is mostly about music, the dance hits hovering around the top of the pops. Da ly usu- ally plays eight songs per hour, which might as well be a million on morning FM radio. Radio, Daly says, "is all I've done since I was 18. I started in radio, and I'm proud the small skill set I have in radio is mine. It's the only trade I know. They can get anybody to wear a suit and be on prime time. Not everybody can do this, and so I take pride in that. People always say, 'Why do you wake up at 5 in the morning to go do radio ROBERT WILONSKY is digital managing editor at The Dallas Morning News — and a regular viewer of The Voice. "I don't come from a news background, but I feel like there's a generation who has a sort of BUILT- IN TRUST in me because of their time growing up watching me on MTV." To learn more about the Today show, visit www.today.com CENTER STAGE: Carson Daly with Matt Lauer and Al Roker in NYC for the Today show 7 2 N OV E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY

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